Dan,
My good buddy and fishing partner, BWild, and I met up with you,
JDubbya, Jimmy, and Bret  Friday night for a little winter fishing
adventure.  From earlier cell phone calls and emails during Friday, it
was clear that this would be a difficult launch and conditions were
less than idea.  Bwild and I were determined to make it work, none the
less. We picked up Bret Martin on the way down and were off.  We
arrived around 9pm at the lake to find our good TTH buddies tired from
a long day.  With a little coaxing and alcohol, BWild and I convinced
the team to help us push our boat down to the lake.  With much hard
work and determination, we had the boat ready for an early morning
launch one and a half hours later.  Having 5 to 6 guys pushing the
boat over snow/ice sure makes a big difference compared to 2 to 3
guys!  Thanks again gang for all your help!  It was much appreciated!!
BWild and I hit the lake bright and early eager for a shot at a trophy
trout.  A few hours into the troll, my rod slammed hard to the weight
of a fish.  A few headshakes and then nothing.  Dang!  First bite and
nothing.  An hour or so later, I hear BWild holler, "OOHHH, fish on!"
After a good takedown, once again the skunk continued to curse my
little smokercraft and we were snakebite with a slack line.
AAAAWWWWWW!!!!!  Another lost opportunity on a fairly slow morning
bite.  Brian and I knew these chances were few and far between and we
were missing them.  It is often painful when you have fished for a
long time without nothing, then you get that one chance bite only to
miss it.  These times are the true test of even the best trophy trout
hunter.
Around 3:30 pm my rod bounced twice to the tell tale sign of a good
fish.  I grabbed the pole and gave a quick set jerk.  FISH ON!!!
Finally we had a nice fish on, and it felt like a good hookup.  After
a nice battle of give and take, a dandy looking male Lake Trout slid
into the net.  This stud weighed in at 16lbs. and taped 31 inches.
Long enough to keep, but after some nice pics and a killer closeup of
that dandy looking kokanee killer jaw, we set this beast loose to swim
back home.  BWild and I high-fived each other, then quickly got the
lures back in the water.  The skunk curse was off the boat, and both
of us felt much better about the day.
An hour later while trolling the ice shelf out in front of the resort,
BWild and I reeled in our gear as we neared the end of our run.  As I
was reeling and ripping in my lure, SLAM, the rod loaded down with a
nice fish.  "FISH ON", I hollered to Brian.  He was like "No way!".
Brian quickly got in his gear and had the net ready at hand.  As the
fish came up from the depths, I saw big spots and a golden flash.  I
told Brian this was a GOOD Brown, and he instantly got an adrenaline
rush.  That good feeling was quickly squashed as the forked tail of a
medium mack swam by the boat.  My premature call on the brown was
false, but this little guy put up a killer fight!  Lots of runs and
bulldogging ensued.  Once this gal tuckered out, a nice looking 27
inch, 9 pound laker slid into the net.  This would be the last of only
two fish caught for Brian and I on Saturday.  Two fish totaling 25
pounds was not bad, however!  Even most salmon/steelhead fishermen
would be impressed by that!  :)
Sunday was tough all around.  Temps were in the low to mid teens and
it was down right chilly out there.  Guess I shouldn't expect less
when it's February.  We fought the ice chunks in the water most of the
morning which really messed with our trolling.  Line was freezing in
the guides before the sun finally came out and thawed us, the boat,
and the gear out.  Neither Brian nor myself got a hit all morning.  We
called it a day around 12:30 before getting towed by Tom from Crescent
Lake Resort on his snowmobile.  Thanks again Tom for your help and
hospitality.  Couldn't have done it without ya!
Overall it was a great trip with good buddies and big fish.  Can't
wait to do it again!
Take care Dan,
R.D.
"Browns - Coyotes of the Fishing World!"